The General's Daughter
by ShadowMoonSedai
Summary: Duo crash lands in the middle on a jungle... and discovers one of the true reasons to always look before you leap.
1. Default Chapter Title

A/N: Hi! I'm back. This is a story that my very. First. Gundam. Fic. Feel special. I love it. It takes place in a jungle, mostly(try ninety percent of the time) and is loosely based on a dream I had. Uh… originally, Anjyl *wasn't* a character, but she became one when I discovered how fun my people can be if they're complete evil against their will! Anyway, enjoy and wait patiently for the sequel, since this one just kinda leaves off. Love you all!!

Btw: I don't feel like fixing the italics. Long story behind the reason, but mostly, I'm just too lazy. If you see a happy little '*', it means emphasis. Love ya'!

The General's Daughter

Chapter 1

Duo stumbled from his mobile suit, blood pouring from a gash on his head. He had made it as far as the jungle, but he didn't know how long it would be until Oz found him. And he had no idea where he was either. Everything faded away to a darkness blacker then night...

Jian reached up carefully and picked a piece of fruit from the tree. She dropped into the bag across her shoulder, inspected the other fruit on the branches and saw another ripe one more towards the top. She pulled herself onto the lowest branch and had to keep going to get to it. Suddenly, the branch she was holding and the one beneath her snapped simultaneously. She hit the ground and rolled, crushing the bag under her. When she stopped, dark purple juice stained her legs and arm and her belt knife was gone.

"Damn it," she swore, brushing dead leaves from the sticky liquid. Then something caught her eye. Just as she was about to go back and find her knife, she realized there was an odd shadow on the ground. She turned slowly on her heel and gasped.

A huge mobile suit towered over her. She knew very little about mobile suits, since her father considered them another evil of the outside world that she shouldn't be around, but there was something different about this one...

Her foot hit something soft when she took a step forward. A body lay on the ground, blood soaking into the dirt around him and remarkably enough, her belt knife was stuck in the ground next to his arm.

"You're one lucky bastard," she said, sheathing the blade. "If you're still alive." As she felt for a pulse in his neck, he groaned and tried to lift his head. She jumped back and took a fighting position, knife raised, before she realized he couldn't hurt a stick anymore then he could her. "Just stay down," she told him, tearing the handle from her bag. She knelt down carefully and wrapped it around his head. "Can you talk?"

"My head," he moaned, trying to sit up again.

"Apparently you can. Hey! Don't move! Do you want to kill yourself?" She gently pushed his shoulders back to the ground and held them there. There was a low growl in her ear as Nusama came in from the bushes, as silently as he had always been. "Good. Nusa, go find Mijan. Bring him here as soon as possible." For a third time, the injured pilot tried to sit up. "For the love- shizaine culf," she swore at him in German. "If you don't lay back down, your head is going to be the least of your worries," she warned, pushing him back down gently. "Now, what's your name?"

"Duo," he said, slightly angry, even if he knew she was right. "Duo Maxwell."

"I'm Jian," she told him, binding his broken wrist against the sheath of her knife (which she *had* removed from her belt, just so you don't get confused). "You must have been part of a really bad battle for you to end up like this."

"I don't remember much," he lied. "Just that I barely made it here and there'll some people trying to find me." She shrugged.

"That doesn't mean squat until you're well enough to leave," she said. "Trust me. We've lived out here for years and nothing has made it through."

"Where is here?" he asked, feeling another wave of dizziness overcome him. He passed out just as Mijan came through the trees.

"Jian," he muttered. "We'll have to leave him. We can't have *them*," he added, motioning to the intensely damaged mobile suit. "Coming into our land." Jian picked up the unconscious fighter, one hand under his knees and the other his back, and glared at her brother.

"I won't let anyone die that doesn't deserve it," she said firmly. "He's obviously got a cause, Mij. And maybe the goddess of destiny has finally brought us our way to contact the outside world. We've lived in seclusion too long. Besides-" She smiled. "He's too cute to die."

***********

Jian tossed in her sleep, confusion on her face. She didn't understand what was going on. Everywhere she turned, a silver wolf blocked her way. Its coat gave of a reflection of some unseen light and looked almost like it was made of metal.

"What do you want?!" she finally screamed, wishing she had her own guardian wolf, Nusama, to protect her. The other beast snarled and lunged, it's claws sinking into her leg. She screamed and bolted from sleep, ultimately falling from her bed.

At edge of the village, Duo froze, hearing someone yell in half terror, half pain. Suddenly, from the nearest cabin, stumbled the girl he recalled from his brief stint of awakening earlier that day. She collapsed in the dirt, her leg bleeding

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked, kneeling down to help her. She shook her head, then looked up at him.

"You're awake," she said, fear a knife's edge in her voice. But it wasn't fear of him, he was sure of that. Three men came approached them from the direction Duo had been heading, two with crossbows leveled at his head and the third with a large blade.

"Release miss Jian," he said coldly. She climbed to her feet and glanced at all of them.

"Return to your posts," she instructed. "I'm alright, I promise you." The two with crossbows lowered them and retreated to the shadows, but the other one didn't seem to want to leave.

"Little sister..."

"I'm fine, Mijan," she assured him. "Now hurry up, before father comes out. And you," she said, turning to Duo as Mijan followed his comrades. "If you think you are well enough to leave, then I'd like to talk to you first." She vanished into the cabin, limping painfully on her injured leg. He hesitated, then followed. Once inside, he found Jian wrapping a clean white cloth around the wound, then pulling on a knee high boot to cover it. She rose to her feet and picked up the other boot. "First of all, I don't know much about pilots, having never met one, and for a guy, you're pretty damn stubborn, but I know once a guy has made his decision, it takes a lot of time and energy to get him to change his mind." She put on the other boot and gently tugged on a bookcase against the back wall. It came free, revealing a path into the woods. "We have neither, but at least let me help you get to your suit."

"Why do you want to help me?"

"I jumped to conclusions," she explained. "I thought you were the one fate had chosen to end this isolated life that my people and I live, but..." She trailed off as a great shape moved and growled. "Nusama, there you are."

"What is *that*?" he asked, taking a step backwards.

"Some kind of cross between a wolf and carnivorous moose," she said, good naturally scratching behind the animal's ears. "Don't worry. As long as you don't attack me, he won't hurt you, right Nusa?" Nusama looked up at his mistress, gave a frustrated snort and sauntered back into the trees. Duo relaxed only a hair. "Don't worry. He'll distract my brother and the other two guards."

"Distract them?"

"Didn't you know?" she asked with genuine concern. "My brother and seven others guard this place at night. They shoot anything and everything that tries to enter this village. And leave as well. I thought my father would've at least told you this."

"I... never talked to anyone." She rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh.

"Guys. Too bullheaded to think one clear thought," she muttered. Something nagged at the back of Duo's mind, but he couldn't figure out what. "Come on. We have only six hours until sun rise and I have to be back before that."

Chapter 2

Jian walked from the trees, happy she had done something good with her life. The sun's rays were just now reaching the edge of the village. She froze. Something wasn't right. There should've been people, starting they're days... 

"Father?!" she yelled, walking to his cabin, just a few feet from hers. When she opened the door, a cry blocked her throat. "Father..." He lay dead on the floor by his bed, blood still running from a gunshot wound in his temple. "No!" Duo stalled, his fingers inches from the start. What was wrong? Then he realized what the nagging had been.If Jian hadn't come from her cabin, he would've been killed. She had saved his life twice and not known it. Okay, so that took of one problem, but what was the cold pit in his stomach? 

That's when he heard it. The sound of mobile suit carriers flying overhead. But hidden in that, Jian yelling again. Was she yelling for him?

"DUO!" She tore free from the claws of the branches and faltered on her bad leg. He jumped down from the cockpit of his Gundam and barely managed to keep her from falling. "Duo! They killed everyone! There's no one left! Everyone... is dead..." The dark awareness of this apathetic fact hit home and she paled. "No...god, no, I beg you, bring them back..."

"Your whole village? But how?" Then he put two and two together. "Jian... I'm sorry. This is my fault... Oz followed me here and if your entire village is anything like you, they wouldn't tell them where I went." Red replaced white on her cheeks and she angrily got to her feet.

"They didn't know!" she raged. "They didn't even know you were gone! How can someone be so heartless?!" Everything she had grown up knowing about the human spirit was being contradicted. What had happened to the trust and faith in the individual she had been taught existed in all beings? "How can this be happening? What did they do to deserve this?!" she yelled to no one. "They had never hurt anyone!" Duo didn't know how to comfort her, but just as he was about to say something, there was a great crashing sound. Four of five mobile suits, completely different from Duo's, broke through the trees. 

"Run!" he shouted at her. "Go back to the village!"

"What about you?!" she asked.

"I'll be fine! Just go!" He shoved her away as one of the suits brought down the end of its weapon to crush them. She got up only after she had made it into the trees. *I'll be back,* she promised. *Just hold on until I do.*

***********

The soldier stood up from his looting as Jian opened the door. She gasped, then growled.

"It's bad enough you kill my family and destroy all life that I've known, but now you come in as though they were nobody," she snarled, drawing her knife. "I've had enough of your kind defiling the serenity of this jungle."

"The serenity of death will be your next stop," he threatened. pulling a gun from his back pocket. "Do you really think that play toy came kill me?" She flipped her wrist before he could say anymore and closed her eyes against his dying cries. Then something else caught her ears. The knife, which had gone straight through his chest, had slammed into a bookcase, producing a metallic clink. Her curiosity got the better of her anger and she tried to pull out from the wall. Failing that, she turned to taking the books from the shelves, then taking it apart. What she found was not what she had expected. A metal door was built directly into the wall with a keypad in the middle of it. What could be so important that he would need to take such measures?

"Father," she whispered, bending next to his body. "I have to know, especially if I can help Duo. Please, tell me your secret." She closed her eyes, tears sliding down her cheeks and forced herself to remember times she had shared with her father...

*"Look!" said a seven-year-old Jian excitedly. "I found all of the herbs Biera wanted!"

"Good job, my yellow haired wolf," said her father with a small smile, giving her head a slightly distracted pat...

FLASH!

"Anjyl!! That's mine!" She dove for her sister, her hands just missing her legs.

"Anjyl! Give your sister back her bow," ordered her father sternly. Anjyl did as she was told, grumbling the entire time. "Now, my yellow wolf, show me your perfect shot again."...

FLASH!

Jian dodged the enraged buck easily, taking an arrow from her quiver and landing a shot in the animal's heart. She always liked to hunt, but unlike her less humane siblings, she didn't enjoy watching her prey suffer.

"Wonderful, yellow wolf," said her father when she returned to the village. He made no attempt to help her carry the thing to the center square, since she wasn't even having trouble. "You've done well for your first hunt alone.".... Jian opened her eyes and laid her father's limp hand on his chest. 

"Thank you," she said softly. *I will *always* be your yellow wolf,* she told him silently, punching in the password. *Even when death parts are souls, I am still the hunter.* She slowly walked down the stairs into the dark cavern. Motion sensors caught movement after so many years of lying dormant and turned on the lights. It wasn't as big as she had expected, but some sort of mobile suit was standing at the far wall, covered by a large white tarp. She approached, then stopped and picked up a small brown notebook from an abandoned computer console.

*January fifth, A.C. 182

I am General John Bishop. I work for an organization known as Oz. We have set up a secret military base deep in the jungles of South America, bringing supplies to last us a year, thirty men, varying from soldiers to my lieutenant and friend, Christopher Richards, and their families. I myself have a wife and two children. A four-year-old son, Mijan, and three-year-old daughters, Jian and Anjyl. They don't know what's going on, but they still love our new home.

My mission here is to prepare for the destruction of the Earth's Sphere Alliance, set to happen in twelve years, on the date of my Jian's sixteenth birthday. She will know nothing of it, nor will anyone that isn't part of Oz. 

In coming here, we met a strange old man who gave us no name I, or any of my men, can recall, and strange blue prints for a new mobile suit. On closer inspection, we discovered they were plans for a suit made of Gundanium metal, a powerful metal that is also rare. We have found much in the mountains and have started what I call "Project Yellow Wolf"* There was nothing written on the next pages other then sketches of the blue prints for the WolfClaw Gundam, things Jian barely understood, and then came another entry.

*November 23, A.C. 190

It has been seven years since the start of "Project Yellow Wolf" and the Gundam is finally complete. Now that we have it though, we have no idea what to do with it. So we will be sealing it away in this underground hanger until it is time for the obliteration of the Alliance.

December 25, A.C. 192

My wife has died. Mijan, Jian, and my youngest son, Nicholas, are scared and upset. They don't understand that their mother's death was not an accident. Alliance soldiers were spotted near our village and my wife, not caring about her own safety, went to stop them, taking four other men with her while I was gone on a hunting trip with Jian. She was the only one killed.* The entries ended there. Jian remembered her mother's death well enough, since she had been close to nine years old. Her father had told them that she had been attacked by a wolves while looking for food...

"You lied to me," she said coldly. "My whole life is a lie. This isn't where we've lived for generations. We haven't even lived here for twenty years!" Her hand slammed against the computer console and suddenly, the white tarp fell from the Gundam. Jian looked up, her mouth set in grim determination. *I am the hunter,* she thought, heading for the stairs that lead to the catwalk by the cockpit. *I hunt to survive, kill what I need to live and never waste any of it. My heart is one with the animal's I have killed and now, I have found a prey worth destroying completely from the face of this world.*

***********

Duo blocked the energy from one of the opposing dolls, but his suit was too damaged to keep it up much longer. Suddenly, there was an explosion from behind him, far from the village. A mobile suit came from the dust, a Gundam, almost exactly like his, save for the three blades attached to the left arm, resembling a claw, and the way it walked, almost as if its pilot was uncertain.

"What the heck?!" he heard from one of the suits. "It's another Gundam!" The other pilot seemed to get his bearings and sliced open the remaining four suits. 

"Who are you?" asked Duo, opening his cockpit and stepping from it. He waited, half patiently, for the other cockpit to open, but he got the surprise of his life when it did and Jian rose from the shadows. Her face was stained with blood and tears, but there was a darkness in her eyes.

"My father always said hidden beneath the surface are things you don't see until circumstance shows it to you," she said quietly. "I grew up believing that there was no death as violent as my people have suffered and now I believe that there is only one group of people who will survive the war amongst ourselves: those that are strong enough to fight the blackness in their own souls." And then she collapsed.


	2. Default Chapter Title

The General's Daughter II: In the Past, We Met

Prologue

The truck sped along the rain slick road.

"Why are they chasing us?!" The young mother clutched her three-year-old son while her daughter slept in between her and her husband. "Who are they?! Is that information so god damned important?!"

"Yes," said her husband calmly. He cast a glance in the back seat, at the small pile of disks barely visible underneath the children's jackets. His eyes lifted to the dark car following them. "I can't out run them, not like this." She laid her hand on his shoulder and looked at the two children.

"Don't let them have it," she said softly. "If the war depends on it, then so does everything else. It cannot fall into their hands."

"But what about them?"

"They're futures are more important. They'll survive." He nodded and set the cruise control, then lifted his daughter into his arms. She yawned, sighed, and settled against her chest, her braids falling in her face. There was a slight jolt as they hit a metal guardrail, but no one noticed. He put his arm around his wife and his son repositioned himself on his sister's legs. She rested her hand on his head as if she wanted to push him away, but didn't have the required energy or strength. The front of the car slammed in the ground and everything went black…

The dark car stopped at the top of the cliff and surveyed the damage.

"Nothing could've survived," said the first one. "Not even the data for the suits." Suddenly, a sharp cry broke the night air. A second later, the wail of police sirens half covered it. "We can't leave any witnesses."

"Grab the kid. We'll come back later to look for the data," said another. The first pulled the crying child from the wreckage. Blood ran down the side of her face and her braids were a tangled mess on her shoulders. She clutched a thin chain with all her life.

"Momma!" she yelled. "Poppa!"

Chapter 1

"What is this place?" Jian looked around and up at the tall buildings in half awe, half fear. Duo just smiled and shook his head.

"This is a city," he explained. "It's like a giant version of your village." She nodded, swallowing tear. Those weren't pleasant memories, what had happened in her village.

"Where's WolfClaw?"

"It's okay. I left the carrier with some friend on a base outside town. Come on." He grabbed her hand and pulled her fully into the city. Her breath caught in her throat. So many places, so many people, so much going on at once. How did people live like this? How did Anjyl… She shook her head clear. Her sister had died. No one left the village and survived. Instead, she tried to focus on what Duo was saying to her, but that failed when she heard yelling over the din.

"Alright! This is a hold up! Give us all your moneys in da' bag!" She pulled free from Duo's grasp and raced among the crowd.

"Jian!" yelled Duo, chasing after her. "Where are you going?!" She leapt over a couch that people were moving and he stopped dead. He had known she was agile, but that took the cake. "Jian!"

"Stop!" shouted Jian. The door of the back closed behind her and three guys with guns turned to face her. "What did these people do to you?"

"They ain't done nothing," said the closest one to her. "And you ain't goin' anywhere."

"Really," she said. "Try and take me."

"Who do you think you are, babe, Sailor Moon?" asked the biggest one, the leader. He tried to grab her arm, but she dodged and got in between them and the main desk.

"What was that?" she asked. "Some sort of joke? Maybe you should have made sure I knew who Sailor Moon was first." The leader attacked and she knocked his gun away, then kicked firmly into his stomach, bruising a few ribs in the process. Then she took care of the second two as Duo finally caught up with her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded solemnly, her trance slowly breaking. "Why did you do that? You could've been killed!"

"How?" she asked absent-mindedly. He sighed.

"Call the police," he told the only bank clerk who had enough sense to stand up. "Come on, Jian. We've gotta meet Hildi."

"What about the other Gundam pilots?" she wondered. He shrugged.

"I don't know, but trust me, we'll run into them." His eyes darkened slightly. "My life would be too easy if we didn't."

***************

"Hey guys!!" Hildi ran up to them, smiling. "I'm Hildi Schbeiker."

"Jian Bishop. It's nice to meet you."

"Okay. I'll see you two later." Duo turned to go, but Jian frowned.

"Where are you… going?" she asked hesitantly. He grinned.

"You'll be okay," he said. "She doesn't bite."

"I know…" But he was gone. "Damn it."

"Come on, Jian," said Hildi. "He'll be fine." Jian lifted her head and look at the tall building she was being lead to. She gulped.

_It's not him I'm worried about._ * * * 

Duo sat at a table in the food court, staring at his soda. How long did it take to shop anyway?

"Come on." He felt himself being dragged from the table by Hildi. He barely grabbed his drink and followed. "She doesn't like the mall, so I told her to wait and I'd bring you."

"Where is she?" Hildi looked around and grinned.

"Jian!" A girl turned from a counter and smiled at them. Duo jerked back. It _was_ Jian only… not. She still wore the same boots and the four feathers in her hair, but everything else was different. Her skirt was now simple green and a white tank top had replaced the tan one she had worn before and somehow, she looked less like Jian then ever before.

"Wow," he muttered as she approached them. "How'd you do it, Hildi?"

"Me? I did nothing," she said. "It was all Jian. For a girl raised in the jungle, she sure knows how to shop."

"Hello," said Jian when she met up with them. "Where are we going now?"

"Uh, what?" Hildi sighed and shook her head at Duo.

"Let's go get something to eat," she suggested. "I'm starving." Jian cast a worried glance out the main entrance of the department store.

"Um… do we have to go out there?" she asked.

"It'll be fine," assured Hildi. "They won't hurt you. Not with me and Duo… well, not with me anyway."

"Hey!" exclaimed Duo. "I resent that."

"They won't?"

"No." Jian still looked scared. "_Come on_. Trust us." Hildi grabbed her arm and pulled her into the mall. Duo followed, grinning. Halfway to the food court, though, Jian paused outside a shop. She looked into the front window and frowned.

"I'll be right back." She went in and came out five minutes later with a small bag that she dropped into the bugger one. She forced a smile. "Okay." Neither Duo nor Hildi said anything as they walked the rest of the way. They finally made it through the crowd to a table and sat down. 

"What are those for?" asked Duo when Jian gently took out three black feathers. She untwisted the three remaining white ones from her hair and replaced them.

"For my family," she explained. "My father, my brothers, my sister, and my mother. All dead."

"I never knew you had a sister," said Duo. Jian frowned.

"She ran away to the outside… here, away from the village. It wasn't honorable and I'm not supposed to talk about it." A silence over threw them and Hildi sighed.

"I'm going to go get something. Duo, come on. It'll take two of us to carry everything back. What do you want, Jian?"

"Uh… surprise me."

"Okay." The two walked off and Jian looked around the mall full of people. People. Strangers. Those words had been the least used part of her vocabulary. Everybody in her village was 'family' and strangers only came rarely. Sighing at her own naivety, Jian pushed her chair back and inevitably ran into someone else's. 

"Oh!" she said, standing up. "I'm sorry!" She turned and faced…

Herself.

No, wait. It wasn't herself. The new girl wore almost all white feathers in hair that was pulled into a tight ponytail. Fear and rage flashed in her eyes and she took off.

"Wait!!" Jian chased after her, trying to avoid running into other people. They turned a corner and collided with a boy their age, bringing them all down. "Ow!" The other girl scrambled to get up, but Jian grabbed her ankle and brought her down again. "Who are you?!"

"None of your business!" The boy pushed both girls off and stood up.

"Watch where you're going." He walked off and the new girl followed him with confused eyes. Where had she seen him before…

"I'm Jian."

"Anjyl."

"Anjyl… but then… you're…"

"Jian, you're skills at observation still amaze me."

"Why did you leave? Why did you run away?!"

"Because I hated being confined to the village. I hated not knowing about the entire world around me! You would've been too, Jian, if you hadn't been daddy's little girl."

"Anjyl… everyone's dead. Father, Mijan, Nicholas, everyone. I… I thought you were too."

"I'm alive, Jian. But that explains how you got here." They had managed to walk all the way back to the food court and saw Duo talking with the young man they had run into. "I knew it was him!!" Duo looked and saw two Jian's: One in the outfit she had bought that day, the other in black pants and a dark blue tank top. She had the same feathers, only reverse colors. 

"Anjyl," muttered Trowa. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"At least you remembered my name."

"Jian, what's going on?" asked Duo. "Who is this?" Jian sighed.

"Duo, meet Anjyl, my sister."

"_Sister?!_" exclaimed Duo. "When did you get a sister?! I thought she was dead!"

"Uh… she's not and I've had a sister since I was born. She left because our father was too protective. I assumed she was dead."

"Dead? Do I look dead?" said Anjyl coldly. Then she sighed. "Sorry. Okay, where are you staying?"

"With me," said Hildi. "I have an apartment downtown." Anjyl looked at her watch.

"I have to go meet someone," she told them. "I'll find you later." She turned and disappeared into the crowd. Jian frowned.

"How do you know Anjyl?" she asked Trowa.

"She was a soldier-"

"No! Not Anjyl," said Jian firmly. "She wouldn't fight."

"She did," he shot back. "She fought against Oz for the colonies." Jian sat at the table and dropped her head into her hands.

"This is my fault… she didn't know…"

"Didn't know what?" said Duo gently.

"That… I have to find her!"

***************Anjyl paused outside a hobby shop and looked in the window. A few moments later, a shadow fell over her reflection.

"You did well," said a voice. "You're acting was superb."

"She's my sister. This doesn't feel right." He turned her around and she looked into his deep brown eyes. _Damn this!!_ She thought angrily. _I can't complete my mission without Jia getting in the way!!_ He kissed her deeply, a feeling that always left her feeling sick to her stomach. But she forced embarrassment and joy, something she had become quite good at. 

"Did that feel right?" She nodded, smiling softly. "You must make a choice, my dove. Her… or me."

"You know…" _Would never betray my sister to a slime like you. But what choice do I have? The fate of the world is at stake here._ "Would never choose anyone over you, Tylyr." 

Chapter 2

"Okay, Jian. Ready?"

"All set." Jian sat in the cockpit of the DeathScytheHell and forced away all concerns over her sister. She had to concentrate! "Remind me why we're doing this in your suit and not the WolfClaw?"

"It's not finished yet. Howard's fixed the DeathScythe before, but not yours."

"They're Gundams. Aren't they the same?"

"Yours is one of the originals. Mine's been updated."

"Ah. Good point. Okay, I'm ready."

"I'm running you against some mobile doll data, just for a test, to see how you are."

"No problem." Duo started the program and the watched the data that came up. At first, she was getting slammed around, but then she got the hang of it. 

Inside the mobile suit, Jian had to keep a clear mind. She created and emptiness that consumed all thought and left her sense sharp. Her eyes caught every movement as it happened and nothing was left undestroyed: her void annihilated thought, not emotion. The pain of losing her family kept her will strong.

Without thought, there is no need for emotion; Without motion, there is no need for thought. The two separate are deadly, but together they are worse.

Hildi sat down the cup and frowned at Duo's worried look.

"What's wrong?"

"She's amazing…" he said. "Her ability level is beyond belief. Reaction time, aim, skill, strategy, she's got it all. It's almost as if... I know my suit doesn't have the Zero System-"

"Zero System?" He nodded.

"It's the only thing I can think of. She's somehow created a natural Zero System in her mind."

"She was raised as a fighter and a hunter. Maybe it's a technique."

"You're probably right. The simulation ended and the front of the DeathScythe opened. Jian took a deep breath and rested her hand in her lap.

"How did I do?" she asked wistfully.

"How do you feel?" said Duo hesitantly. He didn't like the blankness in her eyes… Suddenly, she blinked and shook her head.

"What? I'm fine," she said. "Sorry. I haven't used that practice in a looong time."

"What was that?" wondered Hildi.

"Something my dad taught me. 'If a warrior can't find safe ground between the body and mind, then they must disown both and use what's left'."

"Who told you that?"

"It was my father's second favorite quote, next to-"

"Leave the village and you die." Anjyl walked from the shadows along the catwalk and gave Jian a forced smile. "Hey sis. Not a bad job in the tests."

"How'd you get in here?" said Duo. He was developing a severe dislike towards Anjyl. There was something about her…

"Please, Maxwell. I'm Jian's twin sister. We look alike. Use your head. Unless it's as ornamental as I originally thought."

"Anjyl, that's enough," said Jian, jumping out of the suit. "I owe him my life. Don't be so cruel."

"Do you honestly think he saved you for you? He saved you for the WolfClaw."

"How did you…"

"What? Know about the Gundam? I've always known. Ever since Father started the project, I knew."

"That doesn't give you any right to assume we're only taking care of Jian for her suit," said Hildi. Anjyl shrugged.

"I don't really care either way," she said. "Jian shouldn't be out here in any case. Civilization is too much for a daddy's girl villager. She jumped off the catwalk and disappeared into the shadows of the unlit hanger below. Jian made a small sound and sat on her knees.

"She was never like this," she said. "Never. Anjyl defended everyone, not cut them down."

"You said she left three years ago. A lot can happen in three years," said Duo. Jian nodded.

"You're probably right," she said. "I just wish I knew what was wrong…"

***************Something grabbed Anjyl's wrist as she ran out of the hanger. She turned and Trowa blocked her attack before she hit him."_You_," she said coldly, tearing her arm away. "What do you want Barton?"

"An explanation," he said. "Why are you back all of a sudden?"

"I'm back because I have to be," she told him. "It's none of your business. You almost fucked things up once. Don't get in my way again." She started down the hallway.

"Anjyl." Despite her mind telling her she was being stupid, she stopped. "Be careful. You don't know what you're getting into." Her eyes flashed and she kept going.

_I know what I'm doing,_ she thought. _Trust me. You owe me as much._

Chapter 3

Jian tossed in her sleep. What was wrong with Anjyl…?

_She wore black while Anjyl was in all white, but there was a collar around Anjyl's neck._

_"I'll defeat, Jian," she said. The collar glowed. "For my love."_

_"Who is it, Anjyl? Who has your soul?" whispered Jian. She felt a weight on her arm and lifted it up. A set of blades, like the claw on her Gundam. Anjyl ran at her, a red-hot glaive raised, and attacked. "What the- Stop!" Jian tried to block, and the claw moved on it's own. It sliced through Anjyl's robes and into her chest. "NO!"_

# "Nice… Shot…"

"No!" Jian bolted up, her leg on fire. "Owowowowowow." She carefully rubbed the scar until the pain dulled, then went away completely. Quietly, she got out of bed and slipped into the living room. It was too early for Duo and Hildi to be up, but she wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon. The kitchen clock showed five minutes to five a.m. _I've never slept so late. It's almost nice._ She sat and watched the sunrise through the window, then got up and made a pot of tea. Just as she sat down again, Duo walked in, yawning.

"Morning," he said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough," she told him. "You?"

"Not bad. I like not having to get up early."

"I used to get up early everyday," she said as he sat down. "I've been up since five."

"Five? Whoa. I don't think I could ever do that, even during the war. What made you get up that early?"

"The usual nightmares." She closed her eyes. "I need to find out what's wrong with Anjyl. She told me in my dream that she has to defeat me for her love."

"You should talk to Trowa. He knew her during the war. Although, how he knew her is beyond me."

"I still can't believe that Anjyl fought." Jian sighed and stood up. "It can't be her fault."

"Then who?"

"Don't know, but I'm gonna find out. I'll be back."

"Where are you going? You haven't been here for a week."

"Duo, think. I was raised to pay attention to my surrounding. I'm going for a walk downtown. I need to find something."

"At least let me go with you."

"No." She walked out the door and disappeared. 

The city was amazing and, at the same time, disgusting and dirty. But if you paid attention to the beautiful, the it received its full glory: the hundreds of people, all trusting of those around them, the tall, yet never falling buildings. Jian thought of the towers her sister and her had built as children. The highest they had ever gotten was eye level and they were six at the time… but then their training had become and such things became childish.

_If we had held onto our innocence longer, would you still be like this?_ wondered Jian, walking into a small shop. "Hello?"

"Welcome. Can I help you?"

"I need a map of South America, the Amazon specifically, and a map of Romefellar bases from A.C. one-eight five to… one-nine-zero." The woman looked around until she found the maps and put them in a bag.

"Twenty seven fifty." Jian handed the woman her credit card and waited patiently. Since her father hadn't used his bank account in twelve years, the interest had built up. And Jian and Anjyl both shared their mother's first name: Samara. Samara Jian Bishop and Samara Anjyl Bishop. It was a family name.

She headed for the park next and was side tracked by a farmer's market. The fruits were limited, but a lot she hadn't seen, so she bought a couple to try.

_Food sure is different here,_ she thought, settling under a tree in the park. She spread out the three maps and discovered another purpose for fruit: corner holders. Then she pulled a scrap of paper from her pocket. "Okay, my village was here," she said out loud to herself, taking a bite of the apple. A sweet, sharp taste filled her mouth as she laid a small rock on the coordinates written on the paper. "And the base was here." She wasn't surprised to see they were the same spot exactly. "Anaconda." That's what it had been named, after a giant snake. Snakes were known for their ability to hide before striking and killing their prey and Anacondas killed by crushing, with brute force. _Why didn't anyone tell me… I'm not just a child. I could've handled knowing, especially since my father converted to pacifism. And what about Anjyl? What part does she play in all this? Did she know…_ Jian finished the apple and gathered up the maps. It had been almost an hour. _I had better get back before Duo gets worried._ She smiled at the thought of Duo worried about something other then himself of his suit. No, scratch that. Just his suit. Duo wasn't selfish. Not entirely, anyway. _Why did I have to fall for a Gundam Pilot?_ she wondered. _And why am I even debating this with myself? He's with Hildi… at least I think he is anyway…_ A sudden feeling of apprehension came over her. She looked around, at the faces of the strangers around her and felt alone. If something happened, none of these people would help. _What's wrong with me? I can take care of myself!_ She kept walking, but the feeling didn't go away. Her blood was pounding in her ears by the time she reached a corner and then she knew what was wrong: she was being followed by _soldiers_ of all people. There was the roar of a motor as her would-be assailants picked up their pace, realizing they had her trapped. 

"Jian!" yelled Anjyl. "Come on!" She tossed her sister a helmet and Jian climbed on the back of the motorcycle. "Hold tight, little sister. We're gonna lose both tails." Jian looked behind her again as they moved forward. A military jeep was following them now. Had been following Anjyl. "They didn't know which one I was."

"Why are they doing this?"

"It's the WolfClaw. It's a curse, like all Gundams. Trust me."

"If they want it, they…" She was going to say they could have it, but it came to her that it was _her_ suit. Her father had wanted her to have it, that's why he had said the access code so many times. "Bastards! They can't have it!" Anjyl grinned.

"That's the wolf I knew. Let's lose 'em." 

***************Anjyl stopped near the cliff's edge and gently pried her sister's hands from her waist, then stood up. Jian sat on the bike, clenching and unclenching her fingers trying to regain some feeling in them.

"I come up here to think," said Anjyl, sitting on the ground. She brushed her hair back and let the feathers fall in her face. There was only one white one now. "What were you doing walking around by yourself?"

"Must everyone know what I do all the time?!" Jian cried. She buried her face in her hands and sighed in frustration. "If you must know, I was comparing. Did you know our village was a military base?" Anjyl nodded. __

__"I learned everything I could when I came out here. Romefeller cut off our supplies after a month: father converted to pacifism when he learned that there was no way we could return to civilization. War's kill people: the hunter hates war, but the prey enjoy it."

"Who said that?"

"It was something father told me. I think it means that the hunter enjoys killing only if there is a reason. The prey enjoys war because the hunter is no longer hunting."

"Why did you fight? You were a Hunter."

"I fought to stay near… that doesn't matter. I had my reasons for fighting." There was a screech of tires and four men jumped out of a jeep. Two grabbed Anjyl and pinned her to the ground while Jian fought her own. "Hey! Let her go! She has no part in this!"

"Master Tylyr wants her."

"Tylyr?!?! You tell that half human bastard to go to hell! We have no use for him in the world of the good!"

"And you're good, Anjyl? Since when?" She struggled against her captors, as effort that sent her reeling backwards when they let her go. Her footing slipped on the rocks and she fell over the edge.

"ANJYL!" screamed Jian. "No! Let me go! I can't believe you let her die- stop it!" They dragged her to the jeep and drove off, with her still screaming and ranting in the back seat.

***************Anjyl took in deep breaths and forced herself not to look at the fall that had almost killed her. She knew the cliffs like the back of her hand, but falling from them was a different matter then climbing them.

_I'm not afraid of this,_ she thought coldly. _I am not afraid. Nothing can destroy me as long as I don't let them see afraid._ She started climbing back up. When she reached the top, there was a girl waiting for her. 

"Need help?" she asked in a thick southern accent. 

"Did you see which waythat jeep went?"

"No, but it's a one way road. We'll find them, if you need ta'." Both girls got in the car and Anjyl instantly started laughing. "Stop that!! I tried, didn't I?" said the girl, her accent suddenly more English. "And you. I can't believe you let the Wolf get away."

"Not my fault. I tried too, but they were stronger then they looked. Deedre, we have to catch those bastards."

"I know, I know. Get on the wire and contact Tiger. Maybe he can help."

"Has he _ever_ helped?"

"Of course not. But he _is_ our boss."

"Damn you when you're right." Anjyl dug around in the dashboard of the black truck and found a pair of headsets. She handed one to the girl and put the other on herself. "This is Bird. Rrgghh… I always hated that name. Am I in?"

"There you are. Did you have a nice reunion with your sister?" asked Tiger(who was aptly named 'Tigger' by the younger members of their Organization).

"Nice isn't the word I'd use, Tiger," said Deedre. "We lost the Wolf."

"What about Zero-Two?"

"Zero-Two?" Anjyl looked at her friend, who had set her jaw and was concentrating on her driving.

"Leave him to me. Wolf's our first target, remember. The pilot can wait. We're following the soldiers to the base, Tiger. Hopefully we can get the girl and get out of there without being seen."

"Don't risk it, D.C.," said Tiger, using her codename. "You either, Bird."

"I always hated that name," repeated Anjyl. "Didn't we put in to get it changed?"

"You did, but you need another Organization member to verify the change."

"Deedre…" Deedre grinned evilly.

"Aww, come on, Anj. The name is so cute."

"Bitch."

"_American _Bitch."

"You two be careful. And don't go into that base."

"We hear ya'. D.C. and Bird out."

"What's this business with you and the Maxwell boy?" asked Anjyl, taking Deedre's headset from her. "I've never known you to give a damn about one person." Deedre hesitated.

"Anjyl," she said softly. "Do you remember when we net?"

"Sure. I was this lost little runaway and you were the annoying, scrawny member of the team of three put to train me." Deedre smiled weakly at her friend's joke.

"When I said I had no family, that was technically untrue… Zero-Two's my…" Anjyl put her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Oh, you poor thing," she said, feeling her own stupidity build up. Why had she never seen the resemblance?!

***************Hildi picked up the phone on the second ring and set her book in her lap. Duo was still walking around, trying to keep his mind off the fact that Jian hadn't come back.

"Hello?" she said.

"Maxwell." The caller paused. "Please."

"Okay." Hildi handed Duo the phone. "It's for you."

"Hello?"

"You know, you and that sister of mine have a lot in common. For one, you seem to find trouble."

"Ah. Anjyl. I've missed your cynical humor. Why are you calling here?"

"Is it him?" came an accented voice in the back round. "Is it?"

"Chill, Deedre. Later. Jian's our goal now."

"What happened to Jian?" Duo tightened his grip on the phone.

"Nothing that can't be fixed," said Anjyl. "But it's going to require six Gundams, a Virgo, seven pilots, and a lot of patience and faith on both our parts."

"Why? What's happened? What seven? _Why_ seven?"

"You Gundam pilots, me, and… Deedre."

"Deedre?"

"Don't tell him!" shouted the voice. "You American Bitch!"

"I won't, I won't. We need all of us, Maxwell. _All_ of us. Three days, fly boy, to get your team together. We'll meet in space."

"Space? Why space?" Hildi had picked up the other phone and was listening intently.

"You want Jian back like I do? Then we're going to space." Anjyl hung up the phone and turned to Deedre, who had stopped her spacing. "Don't be so insistent. He's too thick to get the basic clues."

"But we're meeting them?" Both girls started down the metal steps, their footfalls echoing around them. Anjyl paused at the bottom and looked at the two suits being prepared for space flight: Deedre's modified Virgo that had once been a doll and Anjyl's own Mecca, the Gundam scientists last "gift" to the universe.

FireGlaive.

A Gundam.

A/N: ~laughs evilly~ I love this fic…

The End.


End file.
